University Of Alberta

The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,[8] the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory,[9] the university's first president. It was enabled through the Post-secondary Learning Act.[10] The university is considered a "comprehensive academic and research university" (CARU), which means that it offers a range of academic and professional programs that generally lead to undergraduate and graduate level credentials.[11]

The university comprises four campuses in Edmonton, an Augustana Campus in Camrose, and a staff centre in downtown Calgary. The original north campus consists of 150 buildings covering 50 city blocks on the south rim of the North Saskatchewan River valley, across and west from downtown Edmonton. 39,000 students from Canada and 150 other countries participate in 400 programs in 18 faculties.

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The university is a major economic driver for Alberta. In 2022, it contributed $19.4 billion to Alberta's economy, or over five per cent of that year's gross domestic product.[12] The University of Alberta has produced over 260,000 graduates; awards received by alumni and faculty members include 3 Nobel Prizes and 72 Rhodes Scholarships.

The university was chartered in 1906 in Edmonton, Alberta as a single, public provincial university through the University Act,[13] passed during the first session of the then-new Legislative Assembly, with Premier Alexander C. Rutherford as the legislation's sponsor. The university was modelled on the American state university, with an emphasis on extension work and applied research.[14] The governance was modelled on Ontario's University of Toronto Act of 1906, with a bicameral system consisting of a senate (faculty) responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens) controlling financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to provide a link between the two bodies and perform institutional leadership.[14]

Heated wrangling took place between the cities of Calgary and Edmonton over the location of the provincial capital and of the university. It was stated that the capital would be north of the North Saskatchewan River and that the university would be in a city south of it.[8] The city of Edmonton became the capital and the then-separate city of Strathcona on the south bank of the river, where Premier Alexander Rutherford lived, was granted the university. When the two cities were amalgamated in 1912, Edmonton became both the political and academic capital.

But along with these early milestones came the First World War and the global influenza pandemic of 1918, whose toll on the university resulted in a two-month suspension of classes in the fall of 1918.[15] The university organized the recruitment of staff and students for XI Canadian Field Ambulance (Western Universities) in early 1916, and soon afterward it raised 'C' Company of the 196th (Western Universities) Battalion.[24] Both of these units were organized by a committee composed of representatives from the University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, University of Saskatchewan, and University of Manitoba, with each institution encouraging their staff and students to volunteer.[25][26] The University of Alberta's recruits for XI Canadian Field Ambulance were billeted in Athabasca Hall before departing for Winnipeg in March 1916, while the men of C Company stayed in Assiniboia Hall until June of that same year.[25] Between 1914-1918, the number of students and staff serving overseas (in a number of different units) was greater than the number of students registered in each academic year.[24] Roughly half of the university's staff and students were serving overseas by 1916.[24] 82 staff and students from the University of Alberta died during their service in the First World War, and hundreds more were wounded.[24][26]

Despite these setbacks, the university continued to grow. By 1920, it had six faculties (Arts and Sciences, Applied Science, Agriculture, Medicine, Dentistry, and Law) and two schools (Pharmacy and Accountancy). It awarded a range of degrees: Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA), Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Bachelor of Pharmacy (PhmB), Bachelor of Divinity (BD), Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MSc), and Doctor of Laws (LLD). There were 851 male students and 251 female students, and 171 academic staff, including 14 women.[27]

In the early part of the 20th century, professional education expanded beyond the traditional fields of theology, law and medicine. Graduate training based on the German-inspired American model of specialized course work and the completion of a research thesis was introduced.[14] In 1929, the university established a College of Education. This period of growth was to be short-lived, though, as the Great Depression and the Second World War curtailed enrolment and expansion until 1945.[20] The university also gained new public powers. In 1928, the university's senate was granted the power to oversee and appoint half of the Alberta Eugenics Board, charged with recommending individuals for sterilization.[31]

The policy of university education initiated in the 1960s responded to population pressure and the belief that higher education was a key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and for society. In addition, the single-university policy in the West was changed as existing colleges of the provincial universities gained autonomy as universities. On September 19, 1960, the university opened a new 130-hectare campus in Calgary.[33] By 1966, the University of Calgary had been established as an autonomous institution.[15]

From the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, the university enjoyed sustained growth. In 1970, the Collge Saint-Jean began offering French-language instruction in arts, science and education. In 1984, the School of Native Studies was established. Buildings that had been started in the 1960s, such as Biological Sciences, its biotron facility,[34] and the Central Academic Building, were completed in the early 1970s. Extensive renovations restored the venerable Arts Building, as well as the Athabasca and Pembina halls.[20] New buildings completed in the early 1980s included the Business Building and the first phase of the Walter C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre. Another new building, the distinctive Universiade Pavilion (nicknamed the "Butterdome"), was completed as part of the university's preparations to host the World University Games in 1983, the first time the event was held in North America.[20]

The 1990s were a time of financial constraint as the Alberta government made budgetary cutbacks.[15] However, there was a time in which the university benefited from philanthropic support. The $11 million Timms Centre for the Arts, which began construction in 1993, was made possible by a large donation from its namesake, Albert Timms.[20] In 1998, Gladys Young's $3.5-million donation to the university undergraduate scholarship fund in memory of Roland Young, who graduated from the U of A in 1928, was the largest private donation for undergraduate scholarships in the university's history.[33][35]

The early 2000s brought substantial funding increases. High energy prices drove Alberta's energy boom resulting in multibillion-dollar government surpluses[36] and the subsequent creation of a $4.5 billion provincial post-secondary educational endowment.[37] In 2005, the university hired Indira Samarasekera as its 12th president, embarking on an ambitious plan to establish itself as one of the world's top public research universities.[20] These plans were hampered by the 2008 economic downturn, and by late March 2008, the university's endowment had shrunk by more than $100 million, almost 14 per cent of its value.[38] The university predicted a $59-million budget shortfall in 2009[39] before provincial cuts brought that figure to $79 million.[40] To close the budgetary gap, the university increased non-instructional fees by $290 per year[41] laid off teaching and support staff, and even eliminated phones in some departments (such as English and Film Studies).[42]

The 2013 Alberta Budget cut provincial post-secondary grants by $147 million, including a 7.2 per cent cut to the university's base operating grant. The university is covering its resulting shortfall by reducing total spending in 2013 by $28 million, then cutting an additional $56 million to balance its budget by the spring of 2015.[43][44]

The 2015 Alberta Budget released in October 2015 restored a 1.4 per cent cut to the U of A's operational funding, and provided for an additional two per cent increase in the 2015-16 fiscal year. The budget also included a two-year tuition freeze.[45] October also saw the launch of an institutional strategic planning process intended to prompt discussion and gather feedback on the university's strategic priorities, with the goal of assuming a national leadership role in post-secondary education.[46]

countries.[6] The university has 3,620 academic staff along with 15,380 support and trust staff.[5] University professors have won more 3M Teaching Fellowships (Canada's top award for undergraduate teaching excellence) than any other Canadian university, 41 awards since 1986.[51] The university offers post-secondary education in about 388 undergraduate and 500 graduate programs.[52] Tuition and fees for both fall and winter semesters are slightly more than $5,000 for a typical undergraduate arts student, although they vary widely by program.[6] The University of Alberta switched from a 9-point grading scale to the more common 4-point grading scale in September 2003. Seventy-two Rhodes Scholars have come from the University of Alberta. The University of Alberta also holds 2,599 Academic All-Canadians, the most of any University in Canada.[52] ff782bc1db